Life As a Foursome

Things here have been good. Hectic, but good. Adding a tiny one into the mix made me realize how important a schedule is, so I created pretty detailed ones that I wrote about in the last post. Incidentally, I also started putting it all into action during Lent. I guess I'm giving up the chaotic, free-spirited lifestyle that we're used to. I'm also purging our house and ridding us of unnecessary items.

Tony is just amazing! He's nearly ten pounds (although he may be more, I haven't weighed him in a week) and surpassing all expectations. ETA: He's now 10.5 lbs!! Praise God! He's super strong and can already hold his head up for long periods of time and defend himself against his sister. He's also figured out the best way to get my attention. When I'm carrying him around trying to finish up tasks before sitting down for a nursing session, he pulls my hair if I'm taking longer than his liking.

He's still having a lot of tummy troubles with his reflux and having a hard time moving things through his system. He pushes so hard that he refluxes bad and then is hungry again. So we nurse about 23.5 hours a day. Well, that may be exaggerated some, but it's a lot. He ain't gaining so much weight for nothing! We went to the local compounding pharmacy to pick up the pharmacist's special homeopathic blend. It does seem to help some, so I'm thankful. I really don't want to put him on standard prescription meds.

And he's an active part of church already. I wear him in my mei tie on the platform when I sing and also when I teach Sunday School. He's an angel. I love that my pastor is so into me baby wearing. He has even used me to call out people who renege on responsibilities saying that if I can get up there and sing with a preemie right after we were released from the hospital then no one has a legitimate excuse (aside from sickness or work - we're talking about those "Oh, I stubbed my toe and it hurts" excuses) and if they come with one they can tell it to me and I can pass judgment. It was all in tongue and check, but he loves it. Every time he sees us he gets a huge smile on his face.

Visiting missionaries and preachers love it, too. All the ministers' wives come and talk to me after services about him. One lady even gave me an encouraging word, which I feel was from the Lord. Although we have a great church and I have a best friend an hour away and a great friend in the next town, I'm not really close to a lot of people here and don't have a support system. When Beau's not here, I have no help. I can't call anyone and I just have to do what I can. Well, a few weeks ago I had a rough day before a service. That night the missionary to Japan's wife told me about how she coped rearing her boys over in Japan where she knew no one. She said, in a nut shell, it's just a season and I need to be thankful in it. That it really does fly by and it is better to look back on this time fondly by trying to make the most of it rather than looking back sad and resentful focusing on the bad times. These children are my blessing and a time will come all too soon that they won't need me or want me to hold them. It really helped me keep my attitude in check.

Auds is amazing. She loves her brother so much and tries to take care of him and give him a ton of affection. She's also being a big helper and brings me burp cloths and blankets when I need them. She's really transitioning into a young lady. And that includes wanting to potty learn... which, like many things, is becoming a power struggle. She is waaaaaaaay too much like her mommy.

When she's in a diaper she wants to go on the potty. She gets the concept and peed in the potty 6 times in two days. But when she runs around sans diaper, lately she hasn't been making any effort to stop what she's doing to get to the potty or let me know. It's a constant struggle and I'm not sure what to do. I don't want to force her and make it a negative thing, but I don't want to discourage her. As Dr. Sears would say, "You can lead a baby to the toilet, but you can't make them pee."

Having Tony has made something click in my husband's head about the importance of a healthy lifestyle. Before, I kept suggesting and implementing change and he would agree with some things and not even notice on others. Well, now he's gung ho! The local organic store isn't really a store at all, it's 6 aisles in a grocery store and is super expensive. Because of that, I couldn't buy all of our groceries organic and had to pick and choose what mattered. I still bought our produce and eggs locally, but that was it. The rest was from the regular grocery store. I crunched the numbers and figured out that with very careful meal planning, we could drive an hour to the Whole Foods and stock up on food for a month and the cost be comparable to buying at the local regular store. So, now we're eating much more healthy food. I'm looking into a local farm to buy beef from to see if it will help cut meat costs any.

He has also signed off on having a midwife and a home birth for the next baby! I am super excited about it. I thought about it with Auds, but was so scared and didn't really educate myself on all the birthing options. I wanted it with Tony and looked into it, but he said never in a million. Well, after having spent 45 hours in the hospital and watching me have an unmediated birth on 27 m/u of pit, he said that he definitely thinks I could do it. And he knows that it wouldn't be unsafe. To top it off, my doula is getting her midwife's license, so she could be my midwife. We know her, we buy cloth diapering supplies from her, and it would be a perfect fit. He even said that since we have a boy and a girl (and the subsequent clothing and accessories), he would be open to not having ultrasounds to find out the sex. The dangers of the ultrasound waves freaks me out, so I only had two ultrasounds with Tony... both under 10 minutes. I didn't want any more than was necessary. My husband is also going to start helping me compost again and has agreed to use homeopathic remedies instead of OTC stuff.

Now, things aren't perfect. I'm backed up like crazy with business stuff, and am exhausted with having two littles. But things are good. I have an awesome God who has blessed me, a fabulous husband, a precious daughter and a fighting baby boy. This season in life has been the best yet and I can honestly say that it has strengthened my relationship with God in a way I never thought possible. As crazy as it sounds, I'm on such a high from having a natural birth and getting into the swing of having two kids that I can't wait to expand our family more. I know, I'm a nut. But, I figure, with more than one kid, it's going to be chaos anyway. Talk to me again when he starts teething and I may change my mind though. ;)